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A new Kickstarter game attempts to channel the spirit of System Shock and the original Deus Ex, but how close does it get?

If you pine for the golden age of action role-playing games, when PC titles like Deus Ex and System Shock rewrote the rule books for both first person shooters and RPGs, then this is most certainly the game for you. If you played Mass Effect but thought it was a bit shallow and superficial then you’re also going to love this. If however you demand great graphics and have zero tolerance for bugs then you might find Consortium something of an acquired taste…

The problem with any genre that goes out of fashion for a long time is that when you bring it back you have to make the difficult decision of whether to recreate it as it was or to try and modernise it. Obviously the second option is the most sensible but compensating for potentially a decade or more in the wilderness is a difficult prospect for even the most talented developer.

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Although spiritual sequels BioShock and Deus Ex: Human Revolution are very good in their own right they just don’t make games like System Shock and the original Deus Ex any more. Partly because of the changing demographics of PC gamers but more simply because their style of simulation style role-player was still relatively cheap to make back in the late nineties. Nowadays it’d be financial suicide to create a direct sequel which, in a round about way, explains why Consortium looks the way it does. (That and it’s a Kickstarter-funded game.)

Consortium is set, rather optimistically we feel, in the year 2042. And although the interiors and sci-fi jumpsuits make it look like you’re aboard an intergalactic spaceship you’re actually just in a giant jumbo jet flying across Europe.

You play the role of Bishop Six, who’s part of a Jerry Anderson-esque peacekeeping group who name all their ranks after chess pieces. Except technically you aren’t Bishop Six at all, but rather someone playing as him. Although at first the Assassin’s Creed style meta storytelling seems an affection too far it’s used in some very clever ways, as it deconstructs many of the lazy narrative shortcuts that games have been using for years.

There is combat in Consortium, of the first person kind, but it’s very sloppily presented and, when compared to the obvious labour of love that is the rest of the game, feels more like it’s there by obligation than need or desire.

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The real meat of the game is talking to people and engaging in spy hunting, murder solving, and dealing with mercenaries. Depending on how you approach people violence may be necessary but you can talk your way out of most situations if you’re sensible with your responses.

Consortium (PC) – violence as the last resort

The script in Consortium isn’t amazing but what impresses is the way that characters react to what you say. In a game like Mass Effect there’ll usually be a friendly response, a nasty one, and one or two information gathering questions or platitudes that are nothing more than an excuse to move on to the next ream of dialogue.

But in Consortium characters will instantly react if you do something out of character or even if you don’t seem to understand or remember something that someone in your position should. On a simpler level they’ll criticise you if you make an obvious mistake or ignore a peaceful solution, especially if you’d already planned with them to do something else.

It’s at this point you begin to understand why the meta level is there, as it occasionally glitches and your constant questions about where you are and what you’re doing cause the crew to question your competence and, eventually, your sanity.

The voice-acting for the characters is better than the actual dialogue but the various personalities are both distinct and relatively free of stereotype. This is particularly impressive given the crew is multinational and yet there’s been an obvious attempt to avoid the usual clichés that many a lesser game (or TV show or movie) would’ve been happy to wallow in.

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Everyone has their own political beliefs, their own likes and dislikes (including on-board romances) and you can engage them in everything from high brow discussion on the nature of reality to whether they’re happy in their job.

What’s disappointing though is that just as the game’s story is really starting to get interesting it comes to an abrupt halt, although once you realise this is a Kickstarter-funded game that almost seems like an inevitability. But it also seems a shame that despite name-dropping System Shock and Deus Ex as an influence, there’s little in the way of traditional role-playing elements – beyond the admittedly extensive dialogue system and a fairly complex inventory.

There were also severe problems at launch with bugs and although a lot of them have been fixed now this still isn’t the most stable of games, and it’s certainly not the most attractive. But what it is is an experience quite unlike any other, despite its laundry list of influences.

This is a game that strives for realism in terms of its social interaction not its visuals, and then uses the illusion it creates to weave an unpredictable and thought-provoking story. Those aren’t the normal priorities for modern games and despite its attempts to resurrect part of gaming history Consortium also points clearly towards the future.

In Short: Much more than just a homage, Consortium might be rough around the edges but the dialogue system and freedom of choice rivals that of any other game.

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Pros: The story builds to a fascinating climax, aided by interesting and varied characters with good voice-acting. Impressive freedom in all your actions, and believable AI.

Cons: On a technical level the graphics are pretty terrible and the game’s still quite buggy. Weak combat and limited role-playing elements.